What's up with Amazon refusing to send me knives?

DocWoo2

DocWoo2

Joined
Apr 6, 2025
Messages
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Why does Amazon refuse to sell or ship me knives? There are many knives that I can't find elsewhere and many more that Amazon has better prices for. What I get is a message on the right where you would add it to your cart that says "Sorry, this item cannot be shipped to your selected address due to local laws or Amazon policy. Please change the shipping address. Learn more"
I know Amazon would probably be the one to answer the question, but I've been unable to find a satisfactory explanation beyond the above message. It implies that it is based on some law in my location. I live in New York state, in the County of Niagara, not some NYC borough. Knife laws here aren't particularly onerous, certainly no more than many other places. I can buy (and have shipped) many knives from WalMart, for example. I have had certain sellers that only ship UPS due to USPS restrictions, even though I have received hundreds of knives sent to me through the Post Office.
I'm just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of this? I don't know where else to ask...
 
As a guy that has been buying guns, gun parts, ammunition, and body armor via mail for almost 30 years, I have found that many companies adopt blanket "do no business" policies with places for their own ease.

So, some places in New York have restrictive knife laws? Kill the entire state for knife orders.
 
DocWoo2 said:
Why does Amazon refuse to sell or ship me knives? There are many knives that I can't find elsewhere and many more that Amazon has better prices for. What I get is a message on the right where you would add it to your cart that says "Sorry, this item cannot be shipped to your selected address due to local laws or Amazon policy. Please change the shipping address. Learn more"
I know Amazon would probably be the one to answer the question, but I've been unable to find a satisfactory explanation beyond the above message. It implies that it is based on some law in my location. I live in New York state, in the County of Niagara, not some NYC borough. Knife laws here aren't particularly onerous, certainly no more than many other places. I can buy (and have shipped) many knives from WalMart, for example. I have had certain sellers that only ship UPS due to USPS restrictions, even though I have received hundreds of knives sent to me through the Post Office.
I'm just wondering if anyone here has ever heard of this? I don't know where else to ask...
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You should consider their suggestion and move out of New York State. I left NYC 40 years ago and the only thing I miss is the great NYC pizza.

N2s
 
can only really assume the company decided it didn't want to fuss or be punished with all the different and complex rules by counties, cities and state for ny, on knives. so they decided its easier to not sell them in your state.
 
Look at it the other way - much better to buy from a reputable vendor or here on the exchange anyways. Buying knives at Amazon is a cr*p-shoot, you never know what you get: high risk to get a faulty restocked knife, fakes, etc. Don’t ask me how I know …
 
Forgotten Boro of NYSHITTY here......aka......Staten Island
Amazon sux for toys.😉...........I usually ship fun stuff to my house up in Lake George.😉.......
Blade HQ was another who wouldn't ship NYS never mind NYC........Dont know if that's changed but swore them off a decade ago probably....
 
Amazon also says this on some listings for me in Michigan. It is mostly on cold steel products even some non knife items. There is no restrictive laws here and I have purchased knives from Amazon quite a few times. It seems to be seller related in my case, specifically cold steel being the seller as opposed to some other vendors.
 
New York was the one state that went after dealers directly. NYC was using NYS laws to go after the dealers, there fore some dealers avoid the entire state....Things got a bit better after the ban on gravity knives was lifted a few years back...
 
Thanks for all the ideas. Moving from NY for that alone isn't a practical option. There have been knives that I have been unable to buy direct from the maker, but were sold on Amazon. I can't fault a small company for using Amazons logistics. I'm more than happy to buy direct from the seller or from one of the big knife sellers who seem to have almost anything. But the one that brought this up (and I've forgotten who) was a European company that I could not buy directly from, but used Amazon. I'm in a semi-rural part of the state - not NYC and knife laws are pretty much ignored unless you cause problems, but as I said, I have bought knives through the mail from all sorts of places without the USPS batting an eye.
We can all guess why Amazon might have this policy. I just wondered if there was any knowledge of an official statement.
 
ferider said:
Look at it the other way - much better to buy from a reputable vendor or here on the exchange anyways. Buying knives at Amazon is a cr*p-shoot, you never know what you get: high risk to get a faulty restocked knife, fakes, etc. Don’t ask me how I know …
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On the other hand, Amazon pretty much has a no questions asked return policy. You can say as little as "I changed my mind." I get my refund posted to my bank account within minutes of dropping a return off at UPS.
 
DocWoo2 said:
On the other hand, Amazon pretty much has a no questions asked return policy. You can say as little as "I changed my mind." I get my refund posted to my bank account within minutes of dropping a return off at UPS.
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And that's another avenue for fakes into the stream...........I don't think they even check the contents when they get it back...🙄
 
jfk1110 said:
And that's another avenue for fakes into the stream...........I don't think they even check the contents when they get it back...🙄
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I hope you're not implying that I'd do that... 😆
My experiences with Amazon returns has almost 99.999% been with things other than knives!
 
SnubNoseSasquatch said:
This is why it is so important that people become members to pro-knife organizations like Knife Rights (https://kniferights.org/) and American Knife and Tool Institute (https://www.akti.org/). These organizations fight against BS anti-knife legislation.
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Good point. I agree completely. I see no reason why a Department of Weights and Measures official in Long Island needs a special exemption from the ridiculous rules they impose on the rest of us. They can scrape the stickers off gas pumps with a razor blade like everyone else! (Real NY law!)
 
DocWoo2 said:
I hope you're not implying that I'd do that... 😆
My experiences with Amazon returns has almost 99.999% been with things other than knives!
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Not at all......... I firmly believe that you reap what you sow............full circle, etc.............
In the end everyone gets what they deserve...... Usually...... Not always unfortunately.........But enough that I'm a firm believer............ Stay safe and healthy!

James
 
Do you have someone in another state that you trust to receive packages for you, then forward to your home address in NY? It's an annoying proposition - having to receive a knife by proxy - but if you're patient, and cost is not a concern, then it's a possible workaround if there's no other way for you to buy the knife.
 
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